A century ago the nation
was struck with several terrible natural disasters. The first was the
Omaha Tornado of 1913, which struck 100 years ago today with terrible
effect.

March 23, Eastern Sunday, 1913, dawned a beautiful day in eastern
Nebraska. But towards evening the sky began to darken and threaten rain,
but none fell. The day changed unexpectedly as the first tornado
touched ground at 5:20 pm near Craig, Nebraska, destroying a dozen
houses. Ten minutes later another tornado hit Yutan. As it made its way
through the town 20 people were killed and 40 homes destroyed. To the
south, another tornado leveled the village of Berlin and another dozen
people were killed.